Chapter 5 Who is Xander Winston???

      DENNY'S POINT OF VIEW

The drive back felt longer than the drive there.Perhaps it was because I was alone.

The silence inside the car was suffocating. There was no nervous voice asking questions, no fingers absentmindedly twisting the edge of a student identification card, no daughter pretending she wasn't terrified.Only an empty passenger seat.

My eyes drifted toward it for what had to be the tenth time.

Just a few hours ago, Ariana had been sitting there with her backpack resting on her lap, staring out of the window without really seeing anything. Every now and then, I'd caught her stealing glances at Gerald's picture,she held so tightly it had nearly bent in half.

I could still hear her practicing that deeper voice under her breath.

"Good morning."

"My name is Aiden."

"I sound ridiculous."I'd smiled then.

Not because it was funny.Because hearing her laugh, even for a second, had felt like watching sunlight break through weeks of endless rain.

It had been the first genuine laugh she'd managed since Gerald's funeral.

Now.......The seat was empty.I tightened my grip on the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white.

The highway stretched endlessly ahead, but I barely noticed it. Every mile only reminded me that I had left my daughter somewhere I had sworn she would never return.

Silver High......The place where my son had taken his last breath.

I pushed the thought away before it could settle.Not now,Not again.The radio remained off.

Even the silence felt louder than music.By the time I turned into our driveway, the afternoon sun had begun dipping toward the horizon, casting long shadows across the mansion.

The house looked exactly the same.The fountain still flowed peacefully in the center of the garden.

The roses Sasha loved had started blooming again.The curtains fluttered gently behind the windows.Everything looked normal......Everything except us.

I switched off the engine but didn't move.For a long moment, my hands remained on the steering wheel.

I wasn't ready to go inside because the moment I walked through those doors...I'd have to face Sasha.

I'd have to face the fact that I'd come home alone.I closed my eyes.

"Be careful... Aiden."Those had been the last words I'd said.Not Ariana......Aiden.

Even remembering it made my chest tighten.

She hadn't looked back after walking through those gates.She'd kept walking,Just like Gerald had.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Please..."The whisper escaped before I realized I'd spoken.After another minute, I forced myself out of the car.

The front door hadn't even finished closing behind me when hurried footsteps echoed across the marble floor.

"Denny!"Sasha rushed into the foyer.

Hope flashed across her face for the briefest second before she looked past me.

Her expression changed instantly,Her shoulders fell.

Her eyes searched the open doorway one last time then they returned to me.

"You really left her there."Her voice was barely audible.

"You actually left her there????"I slowly placed my car keys on the entrance table.

"Sasha..."

"No."She shook her head before I could say another word.

"No, Denny."Tears already shimmered in her eyes.

"Tell me you turned the car around."

"I didn't."

"Tell me you brought her home."I lowered my head.

"I couldn't."A broken laugh escaped her.

"You couldn't?"She stared at me as though I'd become a stranger.

"You drove our daughter back to that school."Her voice rose with every word.

"The same school where we buried our son."

"I know."

"No!"She pointed toward the door with trembling hands.

"You don't know!"

"If you knew, you never would've left her there."She crossed the distance between us and hit my chest with both fists.

Not hard....Not enough to hurt.

Just enough to release the pain she'd been carrying.

"How could you?"Another hit.

"How could you?"A third.

"She's our only child now."I didn't stop her,I didn't defend myself.

I simply stood there and let her cry.Eventually, her hands fell to her sides,She covered her face.

"I begged you."

"I know."

"I told you not to let her go."

"I know."

"So why?"The question hung between us.

"Why, Denny?"I looked toward the staircase.

Ariana's bedroom door remained shut.

For two weeks, she'd hidden inside that room, refusing to eat, refusing to smile, refusing to be the daughter we'd known.

Every night I'd stood outside that door, wondering if today would be the day she'd finally speak to us.

Most nights...She hadn't.I looked back at Sasha.

"What would've happened if I said no?"She frowned.

"What?"

"If I'd locked her inside this house..."

"If I'd taken away her car keys..."

"If I'd hired security to watch every door..."I took a slow breath.

"Would that have stopped her?"Sasha opened her mouth then closed it again.

"You know our daughter."I smiled sadly.

"She's stubborn."

"When she decides something..."

"She sees it through."A memory surfaced before I could stop it.

I looked at Sasha.

"I've seen that look before."

"The determination."

"The refusal to back down."She understood immediately.

"Gerald."I nodded.

"This morning..."

"I saw it in Ariana."Silence settled over the room.

"If I'd refused..."

"I would've lost her anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean she would've found another way."

"She would've climbed out of her bedroom window."

"She would've boarded a bus."

"She would've disappeared without telling us."

"And we'd spend every waking moment wondering where she was."I walked slowly into the living room.

"I don't want to lose her too."The words came out broken.

"I know."

"I'm terrified."

"So am I."She stared at Gerald's photograph for a long time.

Then, quietly, she asked,

"Do you remember what Ariana said?"I nodded.

"I can't keep pretending."

"I need to know the truth."Those words had haunted me ever since.

Sasha sank onto the sofa.

"I should've stopped her."

"You couldn't have."

"I should've tried harder."

"You did."

"No."Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I watched her walk out that door."

"And all I could do was hug her."I sat beside her.

"That's because she's not a little girl anymore."

"No..."Sasha whispered.

"But she'll always be our daughter."Neither of us spoke for a while.

The grandfather clock ticked steadily in the corner.Outside, the evening sky had begun to darken.

Finally, Sasha broke the silence.

"Denny..."I looked at her.

She hesitated before asking the question that had been sitting between us for weeks.

"When you told Ariana the police had investigated..."

"...when you told her Gerald took his own life..."She swallowed.

"Did you believe what you were saying?"She asked and for a minute I was stunned.I stared at Gerald's photograph.

For a long time.....I couldn't answer.My fingers tightened around the armrest.

"The truth is.......I wanted to."My voice sounded unfamiliar.

"I wanted to believe every single word."I drew a slow breath.

"I kept telling myself the police had done their job."

"I kept telling myself they knew something I didn't."

"I kept telling myself there was no reason to question their conclusion."I closed my eyes.

"Because if they were wrong..."I couldn't finish the sentence.

Sasha reached for my hand.I looked at her.

She was crying again.....Wanting the truth.

The one truth I'd buried deeper than anyone knew.My voice dropped to a whisper.

"The truth is..."I lifted my eyes to Gerald's smiling photograph.

"...I also don't believe that Gerald would kill himself."

ARIANA'S POINT OF VIEW 

Mrs. Brooks offered me one last reassuring smile before quietly slipping out of the classroom, leaving me alone in front of more than thirty curious faces.Mr. Carter rested one hand against his desk and smiled.

"Why don't you introduce yourself to the class, Mr. Hart?"For a second, my mind went completely blank.I could feel every pair of eyes waiting for me to speak.

Lower your voiceI cleared my throat, forcing myself to remember that Ariana Hart no longer existed inside these walls.

"My name is Aiden Hart," I said, keeping my voice as deep and steady as I could manage.

"It's... nice to meet everyone."The silence lingered for another heartbeat before a few students offered half-hearted applause.

A boy near the back clapped twice before dropping his hands onto his desk.

"Welcome, man."Another shrugged.

"Guess we've got fresh meat."A ripple of laughter spread through the room.Mr. Carter shot them a warning look.

"That's enough."The laughter died almost immediately.He glanced around the classroom before pointing toward an empty desk near the center of the room.

"Aiden, you'll be sitting beside Damon Reed..... There's an empty seat there"I followed his finger.

The moment my eyes landed on the student occupying the next seat, my stomach dropped.

*Seriously? ....*It was him.

The same boy who had looked straight through me outside before walking away without saying a single word.He recognized me too.His expression remained completely unreadable.

He simply looked away again as if I wasn't worth acknowledging.

**Well... at least he's consistentI thought Trying not to sigh, I started toward the empty desk.Halfway there, another familiar face caught my attention.

Three rows away, beside the windows, sat the quiet boy who had shown me the principal's office....Ethan.His novel was already open again.

He looked away and returned his gaze to his book totally ignoring me.

What was it with the boys at this school?

Did they all enroll in some mandatory course called How to Ignore People 101?

I finally reached my desk and slipped into the empty chair beside the so called Damon.

Mr. Carter returned to the whiteboard as though nothing had happened.

"Now, where were we?"The lesson resumed.

I quietly opened the notebook Principal Harrison had given me and tried to focus.

For the next several minutes, the classroom settled into a comfortable rhythm. Mr. Carter explained each concept with surprising enthusiasm, occasionally asking questions that only a handful of students attempted to answer.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

Then Mr. Carter uncapped his marker once more and wrote a long calculus problem across the whiteboard.

When he stepped aside, a collective groan swept through the classroom.A small smile tugged at his lips.

"I thought so."He folded his arms.

"This one isn't easy."Silence followed.Not a single hand went up.

I studied the equation.It was challenging...But not impossible.Almost without thinking, I raised my hand.

The movement was so natural that I didn't realize what I'd done until the room fell strangely quiet.Every head turned toward me....Even the snub beside me looked up.

Mr. Carter's eyebrows rose.

"Well..."He smiled.

"It seems our new transfer student isn't here to play."

"I'd like to try, sir."

"Go ahead."I stood, carefully lowering my voice before explaining each step. I picked up the marker and began solving,When I finished, the classroom was completely silent.Mr. Carter looked from the board to me before breaking into a broad smile.

"Excellent."He clapped once.

"That's exactly right."A few students exchanged surprised looks.Someone whispered, 

"No way..."Another muttered, 

"He actually got it."Mr. Carter chuckled before placing the marker back on the tray.

"Good job,Aiden.....Well, gentlemen..."His eyes swept across the classroom.

"It looks like Xander Winston finally has some competition."The room became noticeably quieter.Competition?My brows drew together.

Who is Xander Winston?